Adjustable Hip Brace with Multi-Point Customization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional hip braces are heavy, bulky, cumbersome, difficult to apply, and lack customizability, which affects patient compliance and comfort.
Innovation Solution
An adjustable, low-profile hip brace with multi-point customization features such as sliding lock bolts, adjustable hinges, and range of motion restriction dials, allowing for quick and accurate fitting to various body shapes and sizes, enabling patients to apply the brace independently and facilitating cold therapy applications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If traditional hip braces use rigid frames and mechanical joint rails to provide stabilization and correction, then the structural strength and reliability are improved, but the device becomes heavy and bulky
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional rigid metal frames with flexible orthotic materials that can provide structural support while significantly reducing weight. The flexible shell maintains the necessary strength for hip stabilization and correction but eliminates the bulk associated with rigid construction, directly resolving the contradiction between strength and weight.
2Reliability
If traditional hip braces use fixed structural designs to ensure stability, then the reliability is improved, but the adaptability to different body shapes and sizes deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates adjustable components including removable wedges, adjustable straps, and modular elements that allow the brace structure to be dynamically reconfigured. This enables the same base device to adapt to different body shapes, sizes, and injury conditions while maintaining reliable stabilization through proper adjustment, resolving the contradiction between fixed stability and adaptability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If traditional hip braces are designed with complex adjustment mechanisms to achieve customization, then the adaptability is improved, but the ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the adjustment system into discrete, independently adjustable modules such as separate straps, removable wedges, and modular components. Each segment can be adjusted or removed independently without affecting the entire brace structure, making the customization process simpler and more manageable for patients to perform themselves, thus resolving the contradiction between adaptability and ease of operation.
4Strength
If traditional hip braces use bulky construction to ensure structural integrity, then the strength is improved, but the comfort and patient compliance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite orthotic materials that combine high strength-to-weight ratios with comfortable, body-friendly properties. These composite materials provide the necessary structural integrity for hip support while being lighter and more comfortable against the skin than traditional bulky constructions, directly resolving the contradiction between strength and comfort.
Data Source
AI summary
A hip brace is provided which includes an iliac crest pressure plate, a femur pressure plate, a quadriceps pressure plate, and a bracket to connect the plates. The bracket includes one or more adjustable hinges to adjust positioning of at least one of the iliac crest pressure plate, the femur pressure plate, or the quadriceps pressure plate to correspond with dimensions of a user. The bracket further includes a range of motion restriction dial to control flexion or extension of the hip of the user, where the range of motion restriction is positioned on the bracket to correspond to the femur pressure plate.